Baby Steps
by PreciousLily
Summary: While Lily is away, taking care of her ill Father, Harry gets sick. In the hands of James and Sirius, what will happen?


**A/N= I wrote this story in around December; January, and never got around too posting it. Too lazy I guess. When i finally did get to typing it; it was typed in under an hour amazingly; since I stink at typing. It's pretty long on word; but I'm not sure how long it'll be on here. Please read/review!!! i don't care if i get flames!!!**

**There might be some spelling and gramacal(sp?) errors; I sent it 2 lots of people; but only had one person bet it 4 me; I had another that replied, but wasn't able 2 do it, and explained.... I'm rambling on now... so I'm going 2 stop and let you read...-PreciousLily**

****

****

****

**Baby Steps**

"James, I'm sure Harry will be fine! I'll only be gone for three weeks and can get here in five seconds if anything is wrong! You'll be joining me with Harry soon. It's my father, I have to see him. I'm sure you will be fine." Lily assured her husband James.

James sent her a questioning eye, "I know I can take care of Harry, he's my son too, but you know he's still breast feeding. What if doesn't like the milk? What if he gets sick? AND, I can't reach you?!?! What do I do? You know how i would freeze up on tests, what if I forget everything that made me a great father these past seven months? I'm worried Lily! It does take two." James pointed out to Lily.

Just then Sirius came bouncing through the door, "Hello folks! I'm ready for some good old classic baby-sitting! Siri is here! Now where is my precious-green-eyed-soon-to-be-mischief-maker godson of mine?" Sirius started brushing off the dirt on his clothes from the Floo Powder, and turned toward the sound of laughter.

Harry, now seven months old, stood up in his play pen, his chubby knees holding him up, along with his two hands, holding onto the sides. He held out his arms, wanting to be held and started babbling.

Sirius looked over to where Harry was currently babbling to his stuffed toy snitch, saying things like, "BA Be go me ma?"

"Harry! Old chap! You're getting bigger by the minute." Sirius held him close to his chest, and Harry wrapped his arms around his neck. Sirius started to burp Harry's back.

"Sirius, I'm not sure you want to-" Lily stopped midway when baby Harry spit all over Sirius' back"-do that. Too late. Oh, well. Here give him to me. I need to say God-bye to him. I'm going to miss you Harry." Lily sighed. She hasn't been apart from him for more than a few hours.

"Hey! What about me!" James whimpered, trying to cover up Lily being away by making it funny.

Sirius, in turn, did the same thing, but kept doing it until he got Lily's attention and a hug.

"I'll miss you guys. Take care of Harry. I'll see you in a few weeks..." A few tears fell down Lily's checks as she dissapparated.

"Well, Harry, what do want to do?"

****

****

Harry's cry woke James up two nights later. With a quick glance at the clock, James concluded it was Harry's feeding time.

James walked into his son's room and muttered to himself, "What is it with you and 4:30?" he lifted Harry up and out of his crib. Sitting him down on his lap once he was in a chair, he started feeding Harry from a bottle. He held it up to his mouth and little Harry's hand grasped the bottle.

Fifteen minutes later an owl flew through the window and dropped a letter into James' lap.

Harry made a grab for it, and caught the letter.

"Harry, give DADA his letter." Harry handed him the letter, "Good job. I swear you are going to be a seeker some day" James muttered to himself. He opened the letter and read it out loud while holding Harry.

****

**"Dear Mr. Potter:**

**We are sorry for sending a letter so early, but we need an auror to spy for us. We would need you to take turns with Mr. Black, going in and out of a muggle pharmacy. We suspect death-eaters are congregating there. **

**I understand that your wife is out of for a few weeks. I assure you, it would be fine to bring your son along.**

**Head of aurors,**

**Chris Ranklin"**

"Well, Harry looks like you get to go on first Auror mission. Now, what time is it?" James looked at his watch, "5:30. It's been an hour? Oh, well. Come on Harry, you can sleep with me."

****

****

Two hours later James woke and got Harry dressed. He wrapped him in a blanket and put a hat on Harry.

"Well, little buddy, it's March 31st, you are eight months old now. Four more to go till you're one year old," James told Harry, glancing at the magical calendar.

When James was done dressing Harry, he apperated with Harry to Sirius' apartment. He found his best friend, in his bedroom, looking at a mirror, fixing his robes.

"Good, you're here. Got the owl then? Harry is here! Harry you are going to have the most fun picking up ladies. Never know. You know, a guy, his son, whose wife died. We could OR I could, pick up some good looking chicks." Sirius said to James.

James thought for a second, then caught onto what Sirius was doing, "Pick up chicks? With Harry!? Wife died? Where did you get that idea! Lily isn't dead, she's very much alive! I'm married, HAPPILY married, thank you very much! Let's just do this mission." James looked around for Harry, and found him near the door, about five feet from James. He scooped him up in his arms and laid him against his chest, his arm underneath his legs, Harry's backside on James' chest, "Went far there little guy, didn't you? Come on, Siri, let's get this over with."

****

****

"I'll go in first. I need to get some baby food anyway. I'll be back. Wait here." James took Harry from Sirius, and walked into the store.

James found the aisle with baby food in it and then went to get milk. After he added a few odds and ends, he went to buy everything.

James placed his groceries onto the counter and shifted Harry onto his hips.

"Aw! Such a cute baby! How old is he?" 'Anne' as her name tag read, asked.

"Eight months today. His godfather and I are taking him for a walk. And shopping. He needs some new clothes, don't you Harry?" James looked at Harry and saw that he had fallen asleep against his shoulder, "I've got to go. Harry's asleep." James took his groceries and went back outside to where Sirius was sitting.

****

****

"Potter! Black!" A voice roared over the crowd. Kinglsey Shacklebolt, a fellow Auror, made his way to where they where sitting outside the pharmacy, waiting for their shift to be over with Harry.

"Hey Kingsley." Sirius said to one of his fellow Aurors.

"You can go home now. Shifts over. Wonder why they want us to watch this muggle pharmacy?" The last bit he voiced to himself.

"Okey dokie," Then they disapperated, James to his house with Harry and Sirius to his flat.

****

****

Sirius opened the Potter's front door and crept up the wooden steps, pausing to take off his shoes and cloak.

Once he got to the second floor, he wandered through the halls, till he got to Harry's nursery. He peeked inside and saw a sleeping Harry in his crib. _'At 10:30? I wonder what's up. Harry usually gets up at 8:00! It 10:30 and Harry is still sleeping,'_ Sirius thought to himself, as he walked into James' room.

Inside, James was sitting on his desk writing. "James, what are you doing? Are those tears I see?" Sirius questioned, not aware that this was a touchy subject.

"I'm writing a letter to Lily. I've just got one from her." James turned around to face his best friend, "I miss her Sirius. Here, read her letter." James whispered and handed over Lily's letter.

_"Dear James,_

_My father's Alzheimer__'s is getting worse. Sometimes, he'll walk into a room,__ and won't even know who I am. Every once in awhile, he won't even remember who my own mother, and his wife, is. My mother is sulking, sinking into depression. She doesn't want to leave my father. I guess she means she doesn't want father to die. _

_I'm sure by the time I finish this letter, it will be filled with tear drops. Petunia is here. Her husband and son are also here. Mother blames me for what is wrong with father. I miss you a lot, James. And Harry. _

_Oh, God, do I miss Harry, James. I feel so guilty for leaving him. I hope you write back soon. Maybe you and Harry (and Sirius) can come sooner than three weeks if father gets better._

_All my Love,_

_Lily"_

As Lily said, there were tear drops on the letter. Sirius now felt like he intruded into something that wasn't his. This was James' mail, from Lily. Not from Lily to Sirius. Was it ok, that he read it? Sirius voiced his thoughts to James.

"I wanted you to read it. I let you... its ok. I'm finished with my letter, would you mind sending it off with Susanna? She should be in the owlery. I'm going to check on Harry." Sirius took the letter out of James' hand and went to send it off.

After Sirius left, James went to Harry's crib, to see that he had finally woken. "Hey there little guy, what's up?" Harry gave a few small whimpers. James picked him up, to feel that Harry was a little warm. James put a hand onto his son's forehead, his fears coming true.

"Shoot! What do I do? What do I do? Where's the thermometer?" James muttered to himself. He rummaged through Harry's dresser and cupboard hanging on the wall until he found it. James took it out of the box and put it under Harry's armpit (under his underarm sounds confusing). That's where Sirius found him a moment later.

"Whatcha doin'?" He asked James.

"Checking Harry's temperature. I think he might have a fever. Yup, I was correct. 102.3. This stinks." James said calmly, though he was going crazy on the inside. His eight-month old son, with a 102.3 fever! That is high!

"102.3! And you're so calm! Well, what do we do? Send a letter to Lily?" Sirius opened the shade of the window; too see that it was hailing. "Nope, won't be able too, Storms too hard. Let's see, I'll go get a rag to put on his forehead." Sirius then left, rushing down the stairs.

James sat Harry down on his lap and put a large hand on his stomach, his other hand rubbing in computable circles on Harry's back. Every few seconds going, "Sshh! It's OK. Dada's here, we'll get this fever down."

When Sirius came in with a wet towel, Harry wouldn't keep it on his forehead. He didn't want to go to Sirius, he didn't want his stuffed snitch or dragon, or a pacifier or his bottle. He would only stay on James' lap, sometimes laying his back against his father's chest, going to sleep.

During one of those times, around 3:30 p.m., James and Sirius were having a talk. "James, I'm worried!" Sirius whispered as loud as he could.

"So am I. You think I'm not just because I'm calm!? Well, I'm not! I'm worried sick! I just checked his fever. It's 103.7. 103.7! That's a lot Sirius, and because of the storm, I'm not able to owl St. Mongos or Lily OR apperate OR use Floo Powder. I have an eight month old son here, with a 103.7 fever! And you think I'm calm!" His voice getting louder with each word.

Seeing his distress, Sirius whispered softly, "I'll go find that book with the healing spells."

****

After finding every spell they could use on a baby, Harry was slightly better. It was 2 days since Harry had gotten the sudden High fever, in which James' blamed himself for his son's discomfort.

****

The storm had also kept up, making Sirius stay with the Potters and them not able to owl Lily.

James went back to sleep in his bed, rolling over onto Lily's side, taking in her smell.

He was asleep for fifteen minutes when Sirius came bouncing in screaming, "James! The storms over! The storms over James! Over Over! Hip Hip hurrah! Now, we can owl Lily! Lets go check on Harry, Prongs!"

James smiled at the old nickname; Obviously Sirius was getting back to his old self. James swung his legs over the bed and walked over to the door conjoining his and Lily's room to Harry's.

Inside, Harry was sitting up awake, cooing to himself, holding his stuffed snitch and dragon in his chubby hands.

Harry looked up and grinned one of his famous smiles, held his stuffed snitch and said, "Dada?"

James grinned back and said to Sirius, "Padfoot, my man, listen he said Dada. Harry said dada! I can't believe it Sirius, dada! Dada! Say it again Harry. Come on say dada!"

Harry said it again and again, "Dada! Dada! Dada! Dada!" Then, started to whimper, wanting too be picked up. So, James, moved closer and picked up his son, and put him on his side.

"Sirius, I think we should go see Lily."

****

****

Sirius, James, and Harry (still on James side, but asleep), apparated over to Number Twenty Seven Cedar Court and rang the door bell.

A lady around 47 answered the door, "May I help you?" She asked James.

"Is Lily here?"

"Sure. Let me get her. Come on in. I'm Rose Evans. Take a seat." Then she went upstairs to go get Lily.

A few minutes passed by and Rose came back with Lily, "Who are they mother, you know I didn't want to leave dad." Then she caught sight of James and Sirius with Harry, "What's wrong? What happened? Is Harry ok?"

James grinned at Sirius. They knew they would worry Lily if they came early, but they shrugged it off, "Harry had a high fever," Seeing her panicked look, he continued fast, "But we couldn't get to you or anyone else because of the storm. We found your healing spells book. It helped a little. Then early this morning when Sirius woke me up screaming that the storm was over we found Harry playing and acting as if he was never sick. And guess what else?"

"What?" She asked.

"Harry said dada! Say dada Harry!" James asked his son excitedly.

"Dada! Dada!" Harry screamed in delight.

Lily gasped and went over to Harry and picked him up, "Can you say Mama Harry? Say mama!" Harry just shook his head 'No' "Alright then. Oh, and mother?" Lily asked her bewildered mother.

"Yes dear?"

"This is my husband James-" She showed him to Rose, "And my eight month old son. His name is Harry." Lily kissed the top of Harry's head.

"And who is he?" Her mother nodded her head towards Sirius.

"Harry's godfather and James' best friend, right Prongs?" Sirius asked James.

"Right Padfoot."

****

****

****

****

****

**Two weeks later**

****

****

Harry was lying on his stomach in front of Lily's feet playing with his stuffed snitch. Lily and James, Sirius, Rose Evans, Lily's father, and Petunia and her family were having tea.

"Dudley said his first word last week. It was won't. Has Harry said anything yet Lily?" Petunia sneered snobbily.

"Yes, two weeks ago to James, Harry said Dada." Lily smiled at her son and husband. Harry was crawling over to the round table at the time.

"James, look at Harry." Lily whispered to her husband.

Harry was pulling himself up at the moment and was holding onto the edge, standing up. He let go of his support and took a few wobbly steps.

James gasped and went down on his knees, unaware of the eyes watching him and his son. He started whispering, "Come to dada, Harry, come on, come to dada, you can do it. Come on Harry."

Harry took a few more steps and finally ended up collapsed in his Father's strong arms, an identical grin on both of their faces.

A/NThere might have been some confussion at some point- where Lily's mom; didn't know about James and Harry. I put a there, so if you don't know what I was talking about, you might want 2 go back and find it. Something happened between Lily and her mother; and If i write something of a prequal, That would be in it.

I hoped you liked it!!! Please leave a review even if u didn't. If u have any ideas 4 a prequal, you can send an e-mail 2 PreciousLily77epals.com

_PreciousLily_

_thankx to _**DracozGirl**_!!!! Check some of her stuff out!!!_

_Also, thankx 2 _**emily**_, my BFF, who thought of Rose evans name, and there're street address. And _**Abbey**_, another BFF._

_Thankz to_ **PrettyLadySerenity** _who read the story and Gave me great comments. She has some AWOSOME stories out there, check them out._


End file.
